Bipolar Risk Rises With Father's Age

Children born to fathers older than 30 have an 11% higher chance of developing bipolar disorder than kids with younger dads, and the risk increases with the father’s age, new research reveals. The rate climbs to 37% of offspring of fathers aged 55, Reuters reports, compared to the overall incidence of the disorder of 1% to 3% in all adults.

The link between advanced paternal age and increased risk of autism and schizophrenia was already known; the new findings firm up the connection with bipolar disorder, aka manic depression. Swedish researchers used records of 14,000 adults to reach their conclusions, which may help shed light on how the disorder arises in the general population. (More bipolar disorder stories.)